Democratic Party (US)

One of the two major US parties, founded in 1828, the oldest active political party in the world.

Overview

The Democratic Party traces its roots to the Democratic-Republican faction of Thomas Jefferson and took its modern name under Andrew Jackson in 1828. Through the nineteenth century it drew strength from the South and small farmers; the New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt rebuilt it as a broad coalition of labor, cities, and progressive reform. The civil rights era realigned its base toward the coalition visible today: urban voters, minorities, and college educated suburbs. Democrats have held the presidency under figures from Wilson and Roosevelt to Kennedy, Clinton, Obama, and Biden. Structurally it is a loose federation of state parties rather than a disciplined national machine.